Amsterdam Travel

Best Time to Visit

Most tourists tend to plan their trip to Amsterdam for the summer, so if you want to avoid the crowds — come in April–May or September. You'll get mild temperatures, blooming flowers in spring and golden trees in autumn. Be ready for rain regardless of the season. April and May are considered part of peak tourist season. Locals use websites like buie.nl to predict when the weather down to minutes. Summer is high tourist season in Amsterdam, so be prepared to wait in long lines when visiting popular attractions. The summer months are also the most expensive when it comes to accommodation. Hotel prices and tourist population drop in autumn and winter months, as does the temperature. This is the best time to visit Amsterdam's many indoor attractions, such as museums and cafes. The city covered with a white blanket of snow is a marvelous sight. If the winter happens to be particularly cold, you can ice-skate on the frozen canals. Some cafes set tables and chairs straight on the ice.

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Public Transport

Public transport is the perfect way to visit all the attractions and to explore the city. Visitors arriving by car are advised to park the car at the P+R sites at the city limits and to use public transport. In Amsterdam, 15 tram lines, 41 bus lines, 7 ferry connections and 4 metro lines take you to a wide range of destinations throughout the city. The most convenient transport ticket is the GVB day or multi-day ticket. These tickets entitle holders to transport on all GVB lines, including the night busses, and are available at GVB Tickets & Info and tourist offices. Drivers and conductors also sell 1-hour and 24-hour disposable OV chip cards on trams and buses. No cash is accepted on buses or trams.

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Taxi

Taxis can be handy when traveling to and from the airport, late at night when the trams have stopped running or when you're running late. Depending on the traffic during peak times however, public transport may get you there even quicker. Just hail a taxi, or catch one at the designated cab-stands near tourist hotspots such as Dam square, Leidseplein and the Rembrandtplein. Uber operates in Amsterdam.

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Post

At the main post office, you can phone, fax (retro!), buy maps and stamps, in addition to the usual services. Stamps can also be bought in most convenient stores. Post-office boxes are red. There is a convenient service point at the Amsterdam Central Station.

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Pharmacy

Pharmacies (Apotheek in Dutch) are usually open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5:30 pm. At night and at weekends pharmacies are open in rotating shifts, so you'll have to look around a bit. Mediq Apotheek and Kring-apotheek are popular drugstore chains. Dam Apotheek is centrally located on Dam Square and DA Apotheek on Leisestraat has one of the best opening hours. Call the central number for pharmacies to find out which ones are open in your area:

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Telephone

Country code: +31 Area code: (0)20

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Electricity

The Netherlands uses the Type F electrical plug with two round pins, same as in many countries in Continental Europe. The standard voltage is 230 volts, but some hotels have special plugs for 110 or 120-volt shavers.

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